History Main / HistoricalVillainDowngrade

* Parodied in ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'', set on a newly colonized planet 500-odd years in the future, where cultural mores have [[http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff2000/fc01950.htm drifted a bit]]:--> '''Florence:''' This used to be a monster! He shouldn't be portrayed like this!\\'''Winston:''' Just like [[{{Dracula}} Vlad the Impaler]]. He was also a monster. Then given distance and hundreds of years, look what happened to him.\\'''Florence:''' I don't care. ''(Picking up a plushie)'' [[AdolfHitlarious Hitler shouldn't be cute]]. And he ''definitely'' shouldn't [[Literature/{{Twilight}} sparkle]]!

* In 'the TV version of 'Literature/GenerationKill'', there is a minor character told the POV group that [[PoorCommunicationKills Delta Company attacked a civilian hamlet because of cultural differences]]. The aftermath of this firefight is not described, though Fox News reporter Oliver North is said to be filming the incident. The incident is later revealed by the author of ''Generation Kill'' to be much worse than it is: it caused massive casualties and Oliver North is said to be eager to take part in the attack himself[[http://rense.com/general63/genkill.htm]].

Note that this trope ''isn't'' similar to HistoricalHeroUpgrade. HistoricalHeroUpgrade is when you turn an HistoricalDomainCharacter (wether he was really nice or not) into a full-on Hollywood-style hero. HistoricalVillainDowngrade is when you tone down some of the worst actions of your HistoricalDomainCharacter, but keep him as a villain.

** The first game gives what many accounts would consider an accurate depiction of Stalin's regime, but in the next two games they're just a joke. This might be partially explained by the fact that between the first two games the USSR was apparently a western puppet regime, which only broke free thanks to [[EvilChancellor Yuri's]] influence.

to:

** The first game gives what many accounts would consider an accurate depiction of Stalin's regime, but in the next two games they're just a joke. This might be partially explained by the fact that between the first two games the USSR was apparently a western puppet regime, which only broke free thanks to [[EvilChancellor Yuri's]] influence. Out-of-universe it's just because the creators decided to emulate cheesy 1950s DirtyCommunists propaganda (mind control plots, anyone?) rather than documentary material about the horrors of the early Soviet regime.

[[folder:General Media]]* In-universe, cross-media examples abound when supervillains from more adult media are adapted for kiddie or family fare. DependingOnTheWriter, for example, the worst thing TheJoker has ever done is either [[ComicBook/TheKillingJoke shoot a woman in the spine (leaving her permanently crippled), strip her naked, tie her to a roller coaster and take pornographic photos of her]]...or simply [[Series/{{Batman}} turn all of Gotham City's drinking water to red jelly]]. Sometimes this will be done [[RuleOfFunny for humor]] and/or as part of a promotional campaign aimed at a younger audience. In a commercial hyping the "special editions" of the original ''StarWars'' trilogy in 1997, for example, Darth Vader demonstrates how evil he is by BreakingTheFourthWall and using the Dark Side to crush the cup of soda being sipped by a boy watching the movie in the front row.[[/folder]]

Compare LighterAndSofter, PoliticallyCorrectHistory. Contrast HistoricalVillainUpgrade.HistoricalVillainUpgrade. If a villain indulges in ''self''-downgrading within the story, that's EvilIsPetty; if downgrading is ''all'' a villain does, that's PokeThePoodle.

[[folder:General Media]]* In-universe, cross-media examples abound when supervillains from more adult media are adapted for kiddie or family fare. DependingOnTheWriter, for example, the worst thing TheJoker has ever done is either [[ComicBook/TheKillingJoke shoot a woman in the spine (leaving her permanently crippled), strip her naked, tie her to a roller coaster and take pornographic photos of her]]...or simply [[Series/{{Batman}} turn all of Gotham City's drinking water to red jelly]]. Sometimes this will be done [[RuleOfFunny for humor]] and/or as part of a promotional campaign aimed at a younger audience. In a commercial hyping the "special editions" of the original ''StarWars'' trilogy in 1997, for example, Darth Vader demonstrates how evil he is by BreakingTheFourthWall and using the Dark Side to crush the cup of soda being sipped by a boy watching the movie in the front row.[[/folder]]

* UsefulNotes/RichardNixon has shown up in ''Series/DoctorWho'' on a couple of occasions, generally coming across as a reasonably sensible, personable type, although no more than usually progressive for his era. The matter of his being crooked as a bag of snakes is conspicuous by its absence.-->'''Nixon''': Doctor, dare I ask, being a President at the beginning of his time... will I be remembered?-->'''Doctor''': Oh, Dicky, Tricky Dicky... they are ''never'' [[ExactWords gonna forget you]]. Say hello to David Frost for me!** [[RealityIsUnrealistic This actually has some basis in fact]], as Nixon has undergone significant {{Flanderization}} in popular media portrayals.

Reason: It's not as if Nixon was so blatantly corrupt that it would be apparent anytime you see him.

* One episode of ''Series/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers'' has [[MadScientist Doctor Blight]] [[MyFutureSelfAndMe and her future self]] go back in time to sell a nuclear bomb to UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler, who is [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep only called "the Fuhrer"]]. The good guys react to him with horror, and he's so hateful that [[DeadlyGaze his gaze actually hurts Captain Planet]], but the show never explains to its young viewers who exactly he is or what makes him so evil.

to:

* One episode of ''Series/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers'' ''WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers'' has [[MadScientist Doctor Blight]] [[MyFutureSelfAndMe and her future self]] go back in time to sell a nuclear bomb to UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler, who is [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep only called "the Fuhrer"]]. The good guys react to him with horror, and he's so hateful that [[DeadlyGaze his gaze actually hurts Captain Planet]], but the show never explains to its young viewers who exactly he is or what makes him so evil.

** Caesar is a rather complex case in this comic. On one hand, this being a comedy most of his crimes against Gaul are downplayed-there are Gauls who seem to be no worse for wear, living in Roman land and he often makes peace with Asterix as [[PragmaticVillain it is in his best interests]]. One the other hand, he is often played as a vindictive and hateful BigBad who would love nothing more than turn the Gauls to toast, a BadBoss who will reward any failure with a free ticket to the Circus Maximus and a megalomaniacal whose ego will never accept the village's independency.

Community

Tropes HQ

TVTropes is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available from thestaff@tvtropes.org. Privacy Policy